Under the food blogger act of full disclosure i have to admit that i’m writing this post sitting in a Starbucks eating a two-days old turkey pesto sandwich with an over sweetened (and overpriced) cup of coffee. I wish i could have kept this secret to avoid ridicule but i’m trying to follow guidelines around here. Even with a lot of imagination it’s hard to picture the rich taste and melting texture of beef short ribs when you’re chewing on cellophane-flavored astronaut food. Why do they do this to people!?

Anyway, all i have left from these short ribs is a few pictures and the vivid taste memory of how delicious they are. I’m talking about uncontrollable-facial-spasms-causing kind of delicious. It’s a dish i served at a dinner party at Big Bossman’s a few days ago where one of the guest, a wealthy greek lady, proclaimed it to be the best thing she’s ever eaten in New York. I learned later she landed just two hours before dinner.. but that’s okay!.. I’m a take-the-compliment-and-run kind of guy.

A soul-warming braised short ribs with a springy garnish is a dish especially designed for uncertain, changeable weather. The best of both winter and spring on a plate. The kind of dish that will make your transition to warmer weather smooth like baby powder under your arm pits.. err … nevermind! It’s the kind of dish that tells you it’s almost time to run around in a Speedo, but not quite yet. It’s a tease, it’s pretty safe and it’s good… and I mean the jump-on-the-table-and-do-the-happy-dance kind of good.

Did i stress enough the run-around-the-block-and-hug-beautiful-strangers factor of deliciousness of this dish?

Apparently not.

It’s fork tender!!! Ahhhhhhh!.. NOW i did.

I made a foamy ramp emulsion to accentuate the springiness of the sautee peas and fava beans but my non-existing photographic talents took care of that in a moron-with-an-expensive-camera-but-who-doesn’t-know-how-to-use-it kind of way. The foam vanished before i was ready to click. Prophetic! The mild onion-y flavor was there though and paired really well with the sweet carrot puree. The short ribs were slowly braised for 3 hours in lots of red wine, beef stock and aromatic vegetables. The cooking liquid was then strained and reduced some more to a beautiful and rich consistency. Here you have it.. a zenified interpretation of a beef stew. Enjoy!

Braised Short Ribs with Carrot Puree and Spring Vegetables

Serves 6 to 8

For the beef short ribs:

2 bottles dry red wine

canola oil

8 short ribs

salt and black pepper

12 cloves of garlic, smashed and peeled

2 medium onions, peeled and roughly chopped

2 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped

2 stalks celery, roughly chopped

1 medium leek, cleaned and roughly chopped

1 bouquet garni made with parsley stems, thyme and bay leaves

1/4 cup tomato paste

8 cups veal or beef stock, or a combination

For the carrot puree:

6 large carrots

4 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon ground cumin

salt and white pepper to taste

For the spring vegetables:

1 cup fresh peas, cleaned and blanched

1 cup fresh fava beans, cleaned and blanched

1 cup pearl onions, peeled and cooked

mixed herbs

butter

chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

For the beef short ribs:

Preheat the oven to 350″F

Pour the wine in a large saucepan, bring to a boil and carefully light it with a match. Let the flames die down (it will take a few minutes) and continue reducing the wine by half. Set aside.

Season the short ribs generously with salt and pepper. Heat a large dutch oven and and brown them on all side in canola oil. Set them aside. Discard the oil, add a little olive oil without cleaning the dutch oven and add the aromatic vegetables and bouquet garni. Cook until the vegetables start to caramelize and add the tomato paste. Cook for 1 or 2 more minutes.

Add the reduced wine to the pan along with the browned ribs and the stock. Bring to a boil. Cover the pot and slide it in the oven and braise for 3 hours.

It’s best at this point to carefully remove the ribs from the braising liquid, degrease and strain the liquid. Remove and discard the bones from the ribs. Place the ribs back in the liquid and refrigerate overnight. The next day degrease again, cover and warm the short ribs in an oven at 350’F until fork tender. Reduce the sauce and serve together.

For the carrot pureet:

Peel the carrots and cut into chunks. Place in a pan and cover with cold water. Add salt and bring to a boil. Cook until tender. Strain reserving some of the cooking liquid.

Place the cooked carrots in the bowl of a food processor, add a little of the cooking liquid, butter, cumin and salt and pepper. Process until light and fluffy. Adjust seasoning and keep warm.

For the vegetables:

Sautee the peas, fava beans and pearl onions in butter. Season with salt and pepper. Add a little chicken stock and glaze them. Add the herbs at the end.

yawn. So they were only “run-around-the-block-and-hug-beautiful-strangers” eh?

when you make something “run-around-the-block-and-hug-the-ugly-people”, then I will take notice.

I jest! I jest!

http://www.alittlebitofchristo.blogspot.com doggybloggy

at least you set the bar for the Greek lady – just send her to starbucks and your record will remain intact….

http://www.tavolini.blogspot.com Tavolini

mmm! I love fava beans! That sauce looks mighty damn tasty.

http://baconandrhubarb.blogspot.com Rachel (S[d]OC)

Those ribs look like they are to die for. I can understand the whole running around naked and hugging strangers thing.

Your dish does seem to suit the season perfectly. Yes, spring veggies are available. Yes, the calendar says spring. However, NY is buried under the crummiest neverending, most soul-crusing weather, these days, so the idea of slow-braised winter comfort food like short ribs works perfectly against the spring bounty that teases us so cruelly with promises of what the weather *ought* to be.

http://colloquialcookin.canalblog.com/ colloquial cook

The fafacial spasms haven’t receded quite yet thankthank god you only have to TYpe your comments.
Bebest short ribs ever.

http://www.standingstraight.blogspot.com Claudia

Your photographic talents are not at all bad – you caught perfectly the alcohol fumes flaming in a psychedelic purple glow. I myself would like a high end camera (the results of one at least), but would never get around to figuring out and making all the little buttons work.

http://www.norecipes.com Marc @ NoRecipes

Love the flaming sauce pan! And that short rib looks incredible! Did you add a stabilizer to the foam?

http://www.bigboysoven.com Big Boy Oven

HOly me, this is awesome! so well captured too just amazing by just seeing your creation ;)!

http://www.tomatokumato.com emiglia

OMG… I saw this picture and wanted to jump into the dish and swim in those veggies. Very nice… and definitely something I’m going to make very soon while the spring peas re still in the market.

http://www.weareneverfull.com we are never full

i admire your honesty. i’d turn my nose up at the fact that it was a starbucks, but those are the only coffee shops left in manhattan, let’s be honest.

this looks great. almost a winter-meets-spring meal. very nice.

http://foodhuntress.blogspot.com enrisa marie

I stopped typing for a while and imagine the carrot-cumin puree at the center of the dish. Genius. But I can’t get over the blue flame of your stove

http://culinarydisaster.com/wordpress Jeff

I see fire so you are cooking.

What do you use for lighting your kitchen for photography?

The dish looks amazing and right now crammed in my cubicle dungeon I would kill to be at a Starbucks enjoying an overpriced coffee instead of this crappy vending machine coffee.

Oh yeah and given that it is pouring rain outside and mid 50s yeah beef ribs are sounding mighty flipping good.

Jenny

Boy does this look comforting! I can’t wait to try this and it’s almost winter here (perfect season). Thanks!